Rival teams are eyeballing the Toronto Blue Jays roster, pondering the prospective free agents who could become available before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline: Edwin Encarnacion, Kelly Johnson, Darren Oliver, Carlos Villanueva and others.

That's in keeping with a pattern the Blue Jays have established in recent years: start fast, fall back to .500, switch to "sell" mode in July, finish out of the playoffs. Many Toronto fans have grown tired of the mediocrity and yearn for a sign that the front office is serious about building a championship team.

Blue Jays superstar Jose Bautista understands the feeling. In fact, he seems to agree with the fans.

The Blue Jays whipped the Los Angeles Angels, 11-2, on Saturday afternoon, to move within three games of the American League's second wild-card spot. Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos has yet to acquire a veteran pitcher to salve a sore-armed starting rotation that has endured a number of injuries. But Anthopoulos hasn't conceded the season by trading veterans, either.

During a lengthy interview Saturday morning, Bautista urged the front office to acquire talent and give the team a stronger shot at the postseason.

"Let's go for it," Bautista told FOXSports.com. "Hopefully, the change is made now. We're in a position, in the middle of the season, to compete for a playoff spot. A lot of people maybe have forgotten about the extra wild card, but I certainly haven't. There was a lot of talk about it in spring training, and I haven't heard much since.